Social Media Influence on Emerging Adults’ Prosocial Behavior: A Systematic Review

Figures & data

Figure 1. Risk of bias graph.

Figure 2. Risk of bias summary.

Figure 3. PRISMA flow diagram.

Table

Authors	Aims	Independent Variable	Dependent Variable	Design	Findings & Discussion
Chiou et al., 2014	Investigating if indiscriminate one-to-many/monologue communication will induce egocentrism and reduce the inclination to display prosocial behavior	Sharing conditions: Indiscriminate – Post messages to all Facebook friends Thoughtful – Post messages to those friends who would be interested Control – Asked them to help test a pilot study due to poor internet connection	Observable behavior: Volunteerism Provide contact information Other variables/measurements for reference: Volunteerism Indicate how many data sheets they are willing to code (5 minutes per sheet) Sarcasm Attribution 7 point Likert Scale 1 = ‘‘very sincere,’’ 7 = ‘‘very sarcastic’’	Quantitative Study 3 × 1 between Subjects	Indiscriminate group significantly volunteered to help code fewer data sheets and demonstrated more sarcastic attribution than the other 2 conditions Enactment of monologue communication can undermine prosocial tendencies and increase egocentric state Sarcastic attribution (lack of perspective taking) also mediated the effect of indiscriminate monologue communication on volunteerism Engaging in monologue communication may activate a behavioral representation of an egocentric self-focus, which reduces the likelihood of perspective taking and prosocial behavior
Chou et al., 2020	Shed light on how to effectively transform virtual acknowledgment into a deeper commitment, and eventually action. Developing an intervention that addresses slacktivism related to e-pledging Generate flexible and improve e-pledging methods	E-pledging condition: Clicking on “Like” Typing their initials Combined self-other initials e-pledge	Observable behavior: Volunteering Logs of volunteer hours from the program directors	Quantitative Study 3 × 1 between subjects	Public Self-awareness theory Combined self-other initials e-pledge volunteered more than the other 2 conditions People first generate their own standard when thinking about self and others They then measure their subsequent behavior by the standard they have just created This heightened sense of self-regard would compel them to follow through with the e-pledge Significant-other transference Combined self-other initials e-pledge helped participants to dedicate the pledge to the person Enhanced commitment
Jiang et al., 2019	Analysing media posts regarding organ donation on Weibo to identify the media themes that are most advantageous in promoting public awareness and attitudes concerning organ donation. Suggest the potential of campaigns on social media for promoting prosocial health behaviors and highlight the importance of strategic message design for serving this goal	–	Themes Organ donation behaviors Issues and policies regarding organ donation Meaningfulness of organ donation for Donors, Recipients and Society Statistical descriptions of organ donation Organ donation practice	Qualitative Study Content Analysis	Descriptive Social Norms Statistical descriptions of organ donation has the highest repost/post ratio, comment/post ratio, prodonation/comment ratio and intention/comment ratio Activate people’s thoughts on commonly adopted behaviors Injunctive Social Norms Meaningfulness of organ donation also generated a significant amount of donation intentions Behaviors people think they ought to exhibit Specifically, addressing social meaningfulness could have further activate people’s motivations to donate Induce thoughts of death Organ donation behaviors had the lowest comment/post ratio, prodonation/comment ration, and donation/comment ratio Focus on the deceased organ donor instead of organ recipient could have reduced motivations to donate Should focus on recipients which invokes thoughts of saving lives
Lane & Dal Cin, 2018)	Examining youth’s media sharing on social networking sites Test the effect of publicly vs. anonymously sharing a social cause video on subsequent willingness to engage in offline helping behavior.	2 conditions: Anonymous sharing on a third-party’s Facebook wall Public sharing a video publicly on their own Facebook wall	Observable behavior: Online social sharing (evident from conditions) Other variables/measurements for reference: Willingness to volunteer 6 point Likert scale Donation behavior YES/NO YES > slider scale 0 to 50 Additional online and offline helping behavior 6-point scale 4 items each Impression management motive 7 point Likert scale 6 items Affect 6 point semantic differential scale 6 items	Quantitative Study 2 × 1 between subjects	Observability Sharing publicly presents a desired image which would increase prosocial behavior to drive people to maintain self-consistency (Willingness to volunteer higher for those who posted publicly) Close the gaps between internal moral and external social pressure to remain consistent with their statement of support More prevalent for people who do not regularly engage with social issues online (Effect of sharing is moderated by participants’ social media usage in prosocial activity where participants who do not regularly engage in social causes online will volunteer more in the public sharing condition)
Myrick, 2017	To better understand how the public shared news and reactions with others Investigating if social sharing impacted prosocial cancer-related behaviors (e.g., donating, volunteering, talking to others about cancer research).	Identification 5 items 11-point scale Total score divided by five to form an index Emotional Reactions 15 words 5 subscales Sadness, Surprise, Anger, Anxiety, Hope 11-point scale Total score for each subscale divided by five to form an index	Participants’ indicate completion of behavior: Prosocial Behavior Indicate which four actions related to cancer were completed Yes = 1. No = 0 Adding the total for an index Social Sharing Indicate which 9 types of actions were completed Yes = 1. No = 0 Adding the total for an index	Quantitative Study Correlation	Emotional Arousal Surprise and anger increased social sharing Identification to cancer or celebrity Increased likelihood of sharing Indirect Effect Possibility of invoking an intense emotional arousal (surprise and anger) which lead to social sharing could subsequently influence prosocial behavior since social sharing significantly predicted prosocial behavior Public image/ Impression management: Do not want to feel inconsistent after socially sharing information (Cognitive dissonance) Social Cognitive Theory: Posits that practicing being an advocate on social media (mental rehearsal) is a precursor to prosocial behavior (action)
Paulin et al., 2014	Investigating gender differences of Millennials’ online and offline prosocial intentions to support charitable events After exposure to Facebook appeals to self-benefit and others-benefit (Egoistic and altruistic motivation as a highly relevant situational factor) Empathy identification with the cause (Relates to the context of a particular charitable cause) Social-oriented moral identity (Facet of the self-concept) This framework intimately links the influence of emotions to outcomes from prosocial decisions to support charitable events.	Facebook private event page appeal based on: A self-benefit Other’s-benefit	Participants’ indicate completion of behavior: Indicate which online and offline behaviors they actually engaged in Other variables/measurements for reference: Online/Offline Intentions 5 point Likert Scale 4 items each Empathy Identification 5 point Likert Scale 4 items	Quantitative Study 2 × 1 between subjects	Gender and type of events influences on prosocial behavior Women tend to be more empathetic, altruistic and moral than men Females have higher intentions to support the event for both conditions (self-benefit for breast cancer, others-benefit for homeless) Females demonstrated more empathy identification for the breast cancer event but generally had higher intentions to support event for both conditions Males demonstrated more volunteering when emotionally prodded by altruism, empathy toward the cause, and social-oriented morality Emotional advertising arousal Creating more emotional relevance to men Symbolization moral identity predicted online intentions for males
Sisco & Weber, 2019	Analysing donations made on GoFundMe platform to investigate: Human altruism (anonymous vs public donation, kin selection, reciprocity, sexual selection) Gender differences (giving to different gender, social comparison, costly signal – presence of females at the time of donation, expressing empathy)	Hypothesis 1: Altruism (Public vs.. Anonymous donation) Hypotheses 2 to 5: Giving to family members (manipulation of surname) Gender (indicating recipients’ gender) Costly signal (visibility of female donors on the website) Mean visible donation	Observable behavior: Hypotheses 2 to 5: Donation Amount Other variables/measurements for reference: Hypothesis 1: Anonymity Motivations	Quantitative Study Correlation	Hypothesis 1: Motivation 89% of survey respondents indicated at least one egoistic motivations including reciprocity, signal-burying, self- rewards, avoiding self-punishments, tax incentives, and direct benefits 53% indicated main motivation is that recipient needed help Observability Donations were higher for those who donated publicly versus anonymously Hypotheses 2 to 5: Kin Selection Small percentage of the people gave more to others with the same last name Activation of Social Norms Recipient’s Gender Differences Female recipients received more donations (non-significant) Costly Signal Donating more under visible circumstances to attract the opposite sex Social Comparison Displaying information of large recent donations influence men to donate more
Weber et al., 2020	Investigating whether hate, or even civil negativity in user comments alone, inhibit actual prosocial behavior through recipients’ explicit and implicit attitudes.	Mock news online articles with the first user comment addressing refugees in a: Hateful Negative-civil Neutral manner	Observable behavior: Donating incentive Sliding scale 1 cent to 500 cents Other variables/measurements for reference: Pre-manipulation explicit attitudes 7 point Likert scale Five statements representing explicit resentment toward refugees Post-manipulation implicit attitudes Implicit Association Test related to refugees Measures the relative strength of the association between two target concepts (refugees vs. Germans) and pleasant (“good”) vs. unpleasant (“bad”) attributes Post-manipulation explicit attitudes 7-point scales Rate eight pairs of adjectives in relation to refugees	Quantitative Study 2 × 1 between subjects	Ingroup/Outgroup differentiation Stereotypical messages activates/reinforces negative attitudes which in turns influence prosocial behavior toward the outgroup (even with civil messages) Hateful comments had significantly more effect on implicit attitudes than negative-civil Negative-civil comments resulted in significantly more negative explicit attitudes (relative to neutral) Both explicit and implicit attitudes significantly impacted donation (significant indirect effect of negative-civil comments to prosocial behavior via explicit attitude) Hateful comments resulted only in significantly more negative implicit attitudes (significant indirect effect of hateful comments to prosocial behavior via implicit attitude) Why did civil comments activate negative explicit attitudes, but hateful comments activate implicit attitudes? Uses different cognitive processes Priming effects (obstructive vs unobstructive stimulus) aroused different levels of attention and emotional responses Participants consciously using cognitive corrective actions to correct the hateful messages which helps to reduce negative explicit attitudes Civil comments did not arouse enough attention and is subjected less social sanctioning
Wheeler & Quinn, 2017	Examining how empathy is expressed through interactions on a popular social media blog Motivate people to engage in behaviors and support policies that provides basic social foundations	Vidal Case Study: Middle school-aged African American boy from a high poverty area of New York Posts and pictures that captured the main storyline: Vidal’s family and their eventual meeting with the President Interactions between Vidal, the owner of the blog and Vidal’s teacher UN tour 15 photos spanning 12 countries by the owner of the blog	Empathy Theme Based on Davis’ (1980; 1983) Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) Perspective taking (ability to see from other’s point of view) Fantasy scale (ability to imagine feelings or concerns for fictitious character) Empathic concern (sympathy for disadvantaged others) Personal distress (self-oriented feelings of personal anxiety)	Qualitative Study Content Analysis	1. Perspective Taking • Unaware of the lives of others around the globe before the blog • Blog allowed them to feel for others • Change in previously held (negative) biases of lay people in other countries due to missing/skewed information brought by media (e.g., chaos, violence) • Take a new perspective of their own (fortunate) life 2. Fantasy Scale • Irrelevant 3. Empathic Concern • Expression of protectiveness • Pity, acknowledge that others were suffering/struggling • Longing for the ability to help and comfort others 4. Personal Distress • Emotional reactions (angry, frustrated, concern, worry) • Physical responses (Sad, distraught, crying, feeling pain) Emergent Themes 5. Relatability (making connection between personal and other’s experiences) • Relating to family, make connection to outgroup • Came from similar environment/born there • Use of “I am” 6. Pro-social action (statements that benefit others/calls to action) • Call to action (providing info for volunteer or fundraiser) • Manifestation of action (donating, offering services) • Use of “we” 7. Community appreciation (recognizing and celebrating efforts) • Thankful for the blog’s unbiased representation, compassion/love from the people, inspiring content, humanizing its subject 8. Anti-empathy (statements against the above) and Rejection of anti-empathy (intolerance of anti-empathy) • Use of expletives • Blaming subject for their plight • Insinuating that the posts are for Public Relation purposes

Chiou, W. B., Chen, S. W., & Liao, D. C. (2014). Does Facebook promote self-interest? Enactment of indiscriminate one-to-many communication on online social networking sites decreases prosocial behavior. Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, 17(2), 68–73. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2013.0035

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Chou, E. Y., Hsu, D. Y., & Hernon, E. (2020). From slacktivism to activism: Improving the commitment power of e-pledges for prosocial causes. PloS One, 15(4) e0231314. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0231314

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Jiang, X., Jiang, W., Cai, J., Su, Q., Zhou, Z., He, L., & Lai, K. (2019). Characterizing media content and effects of organ donation on a social media platform: content analysis. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 21(3), e13058. https://doi.org/10.2196/13058

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Lane, D. S., & Dal Cin, S. (2018). Sharing beyond Slacktivism: the effect of socially observable prosocial media sharing on subsequent offline helping behavior. Information, Communication & Society, 21(11), 1523–1540. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2017.1340496

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Myrick, J. G. (2017). Identification and emotions experienced after a celebrity cancer death shape information sharing and prosocial behavior. Journal of Health Communication, 22(6), 515–522. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2017.1315622

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Paulin, M., Ferguson, R. J., Schattke, K., & Jost, N. (2014). Millennials, social media, prosocial emotions, and charitable causes: The paradox of gender differences. Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing, 26(4), 335–353. https://doi.org/10.1080/10495142.2014.965069

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Sisco, M. R., & Weber, E. U. (2019). Examining charitable giving in real-world online donations. Nature Communications, 10(1), 3968. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-11852-z

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Weber, M., Viehmann, C., Ziegele, M., & Schemer, C. (2020). Online hate does not stay online–how implicit and explicit attitudes mediate the effect of civil negativity and hate in user comments on prosocial behavior. Computers in Human Behavior, 104. 106192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.106192

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Wheeler, H., & Quinn, C. (2017). Can Facebook aid sustainability? An investigation of empathy expression within the humans of New York blog. Sustainability, 9(6), 1005. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9061005

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